1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a body part cleansing device for cleansing an area of a user's body, e.g., the anus, after the user has utilized a toilet, and more particularly a body part cleansing device including apparatus for jetting warm water to a predetermined body portion.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
It is generally accepted that the desirable temperature of warm water jetted from a cleansing nozzle of a conventional body part cleansing device, e.g. a device which is used to cleanse parts of a user's body such as the anus and which is mounted ajdacent to the stool seat of a toilet bowl, is 30.degree. C. to 40.degree. C. and the water volume used is approximately 450-500 cc/minute.
However, tap water temperature often falls to as low as 0.degree. C. to 10.degree. C. during the winter, and in order to increase water temperature to the above-referred to desired level, a heating unit is required for the water which consumes more than 1 kW. of power. Such a unit is not, however, suitable as an electrical appliance for installation in average houses. If such an appliance is installed in an ordinary house, special electric wiring and the fitting of a special electrical receptacle are generally required.
Therefore, a conventional body part cleansing device of the type disclosed above must in some manner preserve heat or otherwise reduce the power consumed to a level below 1 kW., in order that such a device will be more readily acceptable by consumers as a household electric appliance.
Generally, the factors which are considered in determining the cleansing effect of a body part cleansing device of the above-identified type include the following:
(a) the temperature of jetted water; PA1 (b) the angle of jetted water; PA1 (c) the speed of jetted water; and PA1 (d) the volume of water utilized.
With respect to water temperature, it is generally recognized that the higher the temperature of the water used, the better the cleansing effect. However, water over 40.degree. C. is generally considered to be too hot, and, therefore, a range of water temperature between 36.degree. C. and 40.degree. C. is generally considered to be appropriate. The preferable or recommended angle of jetted water is considered to be approximately 30.degree., the angle directed upwardly from the rear towards the front of the toilet seat, which is particularly important with respect to the mounting position of the water nozzle and the splashing of cleansing water which may occur. With respect to the speed of the jetted water, it is generally considered that the faster the speed, the greater the cleansing effect. However, there is an upper limit on the speed of the water, which is established with respect to the pain felt by a user along the part of the body being cleansed when the speed is too fast; furthermore, when the speed of water is too great, an undesirably large splash about the periphery of the toilet will occur. With respect to the volume of water used, it is generally considered that the cleansing effect of the device increases with the use of greater volumes of water. However, the volume of water must necessarily be limited to a maximum level established and determined by the capacity of the water supply system installed in houses in which the device is used. The volume of water required will also be a factor in determining the amount of energy required to raise the water to a desired temperature.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, a preferred cleansing device comprises a jet nozzle having an inner diameter of approximately 1.5 mm. which jets water therefrom so that a consumption of 450-500 cc/min. results.
A body part cleansing device having such features is generally disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,524.
The cleansing device disclosed by such patent, however, is disadvantageous in that it requires the installation of a warm water tank and other facilities for heat preservation. Additionally, the device is quite large, the heating mechanism complicated, and additional electric power must be supplied to generate sufficient heat to compensate for heat dissipation from the warm water tank under circumstances in which the cleansing device is not utilized for a long period of time.
Furthermore, the device disclosed in the patent includes a nozzle which is exposed within the toilet bowl in which it is placed and which is therefore easily splashed with urine when the toilet is used, resulting in an unclean and unhygienic cleansing device.
Another body part cleansing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,872,687. This device attempts to overcome the unhygienic conditons referred to above by providng a contractible nozzle member which can be reduced in length when the device is not in use so that urine will not be splashed thereon.
This device, however, is disadvantageous in that it incorporates a complicated mechanism to achieve cleanliness and because the manufacturing costs of providing such a mechanism are inevitably high.
Further, the device disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,524, referred to above, is constructed so that its injector unit is formed integrally with the joint which connects the spray nozzle member to the warm water supply pipe; this results in manufacturing difficulty in forming the joint and in boring the throttle hole of the injector; this construction also and causes relatively imprecise installation, and thereby undesirable results and performance, of the device.
A third cleansing device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,326. This device incorporates an independent injector member and nozzle member which are mounted separably at a fixed distance from one another.
Such a fixed distance between the injector unit and nozzle member when mounted causes a very critical problem in assembly and adjustment of the aligned or mating parts. As seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, a relative deflection of up to 0.5 mm. of the injector unit and the nozzle member, as taken in the lateral direction, will cause a resultant deflection in the jetted water spray of approximately 1 mm. from a desired cleansing point. Even if a 5 mm. maximum deflection from a desired cleansing point is permitted, the deflection of the injector unit in the lateral direction must be maintained at 0.7 mm. or less. As seen from the graph in FIG. 9, the allowable deflection in the longitudinal direction of the unit influences the angle of the water jet coming from the nozzle, and this must be maintained at backward deflection 0.3 mm. and at forward deflection 0.7 mm. or less. Otherwise, the water jet angle will be reduced to less than 20.degree.; such a reduced water jet angle will nullify the cleansing purposes of the present device, as illustrated in FIG. 9. The usable zones illustrated in the graphs in FIGS. 8 and 9 represent the areas in which the water jet achieves its desired cleaning purposes. These graphs point up the fact that the mating or alignment of the nozzle and injector member is critical and can be very troublesome if outside of a rather limited range. Conventional parts mating procedures can lead to many difficulties, particularly because even a slight misalignment between the parts can cause a device to be unable to properly cleanse a predetermined body area.